Catalyst
by l3xiquinnsegsy
Summary: After the worst experience the team has been through, emotions are running high and the tension between Wally and Artemis continues to mount. Maybe all they needed the entire time was a catalyst to spark a new beginning. After Failsafe. WallArt.


**A/N: Hi all! This is my "what should have happened during Failsafe" fic. First Wally and Artemis fic, so please, all of the reviews and suggestions about edits and writing in general would be generally appreciated. **

**About some of the dialogue, Artemis is crying and Wally's a nervous wreck. Henceforth, the kind of awkward dialogue. I hope everyone enjoys this! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. If I did, I would have already made Spitfire babies for you all. **

The explosion rocked through the Mother Ship. It could be felt by the winds and debris that were expelled from the initial detonation sight before the searing hot fires roared into the hall, reds and oranges springing up the walls on a rampage of destruction. In the split second that it took for this to occur, Wally slipped his hand into the closest hand of his best friend and squeezed it, communicating in one last gesture that their time together playing COD and raiding the Bat Cave for snacks in the middle of the night was one well spent. And in the next second, it was over.

There had been no "life flashed before his eyes", no white light that had announced an arrival into an afterlife, no welcoming angels or something ridiculous like that singing hymnals to him as he floated into the sky. It was only blackness, an abyss that seemed to have no origin and no end. Wally blinked his eyes a few times to attempt to adjust them to the darkness and then began to search the space around him for his lost teammates. For they who had to be here with him now, because if he went to this place, it had to mean that they were here as well. He had to find Robin…needed to find Artemis. Just as he had begun to adjust to moving through the black and infinite space, a light appeared in the distance and traveled quickly towards him, until the light completely surrounded Wally, and suddenly he was falling, and less than a minute later he felt his body come in contact with a hard surface. At this new contact, Wally wrenched his eyes open, and was immediately stunned by what he saw.

There hadn't been as much of a warning for Artemis as there had been for Wally. In one second, Artemis had been sprinting across the snow covered ice, intent on firing a few arrows into the approaching ship to give her teammates a chance to reach their Bioship. In the next, just as she had gotten within a few yards of her safety, M'gann had unleashed an ear-piercing shriek in warning to the other girl, who had barely enough time to turn around and nock one of her arrows before the beam of light enveloped her body. She felt an uncomfortable sizzling flow through her veins and into her bones, felt her body rapidly decrease in size, and then there was nothing. Artemis vanished into nothingness with a quiet "pop" and the sounds of Wally screams.

The nothingness was a black space that was seemingly endless. After an initial look, Artemis acknowledged the fact that there was nothing to be found near her, and instead of wasting energy and attempting to move about the space, she chose to simply lay back on whatever seemed to be holding her up and close her eyes. She waited for others to join her in this detaining facility for those who had passed, but hours seemed to pass without another addition to her party of one. After what had begun to feel like an eternity, Artemis opened her eyes in response to the lightening of the area around her. A light was fast approaching from the far end of the abyss and soon Artemis was engulfed in the bright beams. As they surrounded her, she found herself being pulled downwards and within the span of a few minutes she felt her descent beginning to slow. Soon, she felt her backside come in contact with a hard surface, bumping into her body in an apparent attempt to wake her from whatever she subconscious was stuck in. Eventually, her entire back was being prodded with what appeared to be a table, and the urge to open her eyes and take in her new surroundings became too great. Artemis took in a shaky breath and opened her eyes.

Upon waking, Wally realized three things. One, the most obvious yet at the moment not the most important, Wally realized that he was alive. The death experiences and the alien invasion had simply been a training scenario in their heads that had gone terribly wrong. Second, though still not the most important fact that had been learned in the last few hours, he learned that M'gann was an extremely powerful Martian with untested powers that obviously needed to be tested in the very near future. And third, this one being the most important to Wally in the long run, he realized that he had feelings for Artemis. No…"had feelings for" seemed too casual. To rephrase, Wally was quite sure that he loved Artemis.

When he saw her be disintegrated, something inside of him seemed to snap. Knowing that she could be gone from his life forever seemed to unleash a horde of feelings and dreams that Wally had been attempting to push into the back of his mind for the last few months. But the longer it took to find her, the more time he had to dwell on his uncovered feelings. Artemis was a constant presence in his life, something that he had come to depend on for normalcy and to brighten up his day with her sharp wit and her teasing, on rare occasions flirty, banter. To have that taken away in the blink of an eye, well, it completely threw everything Wally had practiced about controlling his emotions on missions aside, and his only focus had become to discover what happened to Artemis and to somehow rescue her.

Though the crisis had passed now and every member of the team had finally dispersed, Wally's heightened emotions had yet to disappear. He knew that she was safe, but the mere thought of letting her be alone now was maddening. Why let her be by herself at a time like this? Steeling himself for a lengthy explanation as to why he should go to hell and leave her alone, he set off after Artemis.

It took him about five minutes to find her. After eliminating her room and the kitchen, he moved across Mt. Justice to one of the bathrooms. Unlike the private ones off of their rooms or the large shower room for rinsing off after missions, this bathroom was equipped with a hot tub for the ultimate un-kinking of muscles after a particularly rough day. The sounds of running water could be heard from inside and knowing that no one else had come to this side of the Mountain; he tentatively knocked on the door.

Artemis lowered herself into the hot tub and let out a moan of content. Nothing about artificially dying had been very taxing, but in this moment, there was nothing more that she needed than relaxation. Though nothing about the scenario was real, it had certainly felt that way. She had woken to the broken and empty faces of her teammates, and after the explanation of what had caused M'gann to take control of the simulation, she couldn't help but feel that it was her fault that their faces her haunted and blank upon waking. The one that had struck her the hardest had been Wally. She had never vocally admitted her growing feelings for the speedster, but hearing his voice screaming out her name as she died and his face as he woke and realized that she was alive was enough to dredge up those feelings. As much as she wanted to go over and hug the boy and assure him that whatever had been troubling him had passed, she couldn't muster enough energy to do that one simple act.

As soon as Bat Man had dismissed the Team, the group had immediately moved in opposite directions, M'gann and Connor being the only two that were together when Artemis fled the room. Nothing had ever called to her as much as Wally had in that moment, but it seemed rude to bring up the scarring situation in its immediate aftermath. So instead she ran to claim the bathroom and the hot tub, sure that she would not be disturbed as she sank into the warm water and most likely cried. But just as she stripped down to a sports-bra and a pair of slide shorts that she wore to fit into her costume and slid into the tub, a knock resounded through the door.

Cursing under her breath, Artemis gathered her draining patience and energy and yelled out, "I just got into the bath, so it's gonna be a while."

It was quiet for a moment, and Artemis wondered if whoever had been outside of the door had simply left, but they finally responded.

"Artemis, it's Wally. Can…can I, um, come uh…come in for a minute?"

Artemis sighed. The last person she needed to see now was Wally. With half of the reasons she was on the verge of tears being about him, she thought it unwise to let him into the room at that moment.

"I'm in the bath, can't it wait, Kid Flashy? Perving out while I'm in here can be postponed until tomorrow, I think."

She thought she heard a tired chuckle respond to her statement, but when Wally responded, he didn't fire back with his own comment. On the contrary, he seemed tired, like he was on the edge of complete exhaustion and this was the last task he wanted to accomplish before he simply gave up. Dying and then being resurrected all in one day tented to do that to people.

"Artemis, can I just please come in? I need to talk to you, or at least just see you for a few minutes. Okay?"

His pleading tone mixed with his usual calm suavity, making him completely impossible to resist in Artemis' emotional and deteriorated state.

She sighed. "Ugh, fine Wally. Just make it quick. The door is unlocked, lucky for you, because I wasn't planning on getting up to let you in."

This time she definitely heard a chuckle, and she lifted her head to watch Wally as he opened the door and walked into the room. She was rendered breathless by the bags that had recently formed under his eyes since they had woken, making him look like a long practicing insomniac. In place of his energetic demeanor was a tired and lethargic boy who was obviously plagued by something that, if possible, was more pressing than subconsciously dying earlier in the hour. He crossed the room and reached the hot tub, sitting on the bench next to it upon arrival to remove him shoes, the sweatshirt he was wearing, and the shirt underneath. Wearing only a loose pair of sweat pants, Wally eased himself over the edge of the hot tub and lowered himself into the steaming hot water, letting out a sigh of relief to his stiff muscles. Surviving longer in the scenario obviously took more of a toll on the body than just dying in it.

The two sat in an awkward silence for a minute or two letting the water soak and relax their muscles. As the tension in their bodies decreased, so did the tension in the air around them. When Wally felt relaxed enough, he attempted to begin the conversation that had been his intent in the first place.

He cleared his throat and tried to ease into their usual banter, but the weight of his newly-acknowledged emotions pushed away the urge to keep the conversation light.

"How are you holding up?" Wally asked, glancing at his companion's face to gauge her expression when she answered. Artemis sighed and looked down into the water.

"I'm fine Baywatch. I died during a fake training mission, what do you want me to do, go to a counselor? I'm sure Red Tornado would love to oblige." She shook her head in mock disgust, hoping that Wally would take the bait and not question her more about the subject. Someone, however, had decided to don his observing cap that morning, and Wally saw right through her attempt at humor.

"Really, Artemis. You died. I mean you died right in front of us, and no one thought it was fake when it happened, not even you obviously. No one's going to judge you if you're upset."

They fell into a quiet silence after this, Wally gazing intently at Artemis, Artemis looking everywhere but at Wally. He knew that there had to be some underlying emotions about the afternoon just waiting to break through her calm façade.

"I'm, I'm not trying to get into your business, but I'm here if you need to talk. Today, was…hard, on all of us. And even though you were gone first you probably endured more than we did, thinking that you were dead for so long. That's a difficult thing and we're all her-"

Wally was suddenly cut off by the short sounds of labored breathing and sniffles. Tearing his eyes away from the wall he had been glaring at to keep some semblance of calm about himself as he talked, he turned towards Artemis. Expecting a coughing fit of some kind, it was all he could do to not gasp when he realized that Artemis was not doubled over from a cough, but from the tears that had finally begun to stream down her face. Not knowing how much she would allow for him to see, Wally scooted over on the bench that the two were sharing and began rubbing comforting circles into Artemis' back. After a minute or two, her tears slowed, and she was once again able to form a coherent sentence.

"I…I let everyone down. I died-I died and ruined it an…and everyone suffered even more because I was being careless and I died. You wouldn't be upset or tired or sore if I hadn't freaking died, and you're the one telling, telling me that if I need someone to talk to I can talk to you? How screwed up is that?"

Artemis paused to shed a few more tears of frustration and anguish before resuming.

"This is all my fault. All of it. I don't understand how you can just-just not even realize that. You should be pissed at me Wally! Where's the snarky "You screwed everything up Artemis" that I'm used to? I'm the reason you, and the entire team, if suffering and upset. Get it?"

She turned to pull herself out of the tub, thinking that it was clear that this would be the last thing she would contribute to the conversation, but before she could get one leg over the edge, Wally grabbed one of her arms and pulled her back into the seat she had just vacated.

Wally shook his head as she turned to him, ready to fire an insult in response to him keeping her in the tub.

"Artemis, listen to me. I'm…I'm not upset because of the day. It was traumatic, yea, in this profession it tends to happen. But honestly, the worst part of today was…when you um, when you died."

"Wally, I know. I died M'gann forgot the day was ruined I know I know I know. You need to stop bringing it up if you want me to stay in thi-"

"No, not what it did to the group. When you died, yourself. That, just that, and then not being able to get you back and realizing that you were really dead, that was the worst part of today. Losing you."

Artemis had no words to respond with. Wally's confession could basically be interpreted as a confession of feelings, not just a confession of what was bothering him. That connection seemed too hopeful, however, so Artemis prodded Wally for more information on the topic, hoping to make his intent for revealing it clear.

"I didn't know, Wally, that it made you that upset. I'm so so sorry."

"It was just, you were there one minute and then in the next second you were gone, forever. I kept telling myself that if I looked hard enough or if I figured out enough things about the aliens then I would be able to find you somewhere and save you. And by the time that Robin realized that I was just acting out of fear of never seeing you again, he just kept encouraging me so he'd have me on board for whatever we needed to do to save you."

"Wally-"

"And then we just sacrificed ourselves to try and destroy their Mother Ship, and the first thing I thought of when I entered wherever the hell we were sent was finding you in there somewhere. We've never really said anything besides mean things to each other, but I-"

"I like you Wally."

The boy faltered.

"Um, say that again? But with clarifications and things like that."

"Wally, I know that we never really get along well, like you said. But, I, I like you. I wasn't even sure if I would ever admit that out loud, but I just did. Whoa."

Wally blinked a few times in obvious surprise. This was not part of the plan at all. '_Stupid Blondie, having to speak up first,' _Wally thought to himself.

"But now, well to be honest you look like you just ate some really bad Mexican food, so I'm gonna slip on out of this tub and pretend that nothing ever happened and punch your sorry ass if you so much as mention what I just said to you so-"

"Artemis, you died today. Right in front of me. I lost you before I ever had the chance to call you a friend, let alone something more, so I think that I'll ignore what _you _just said and finish what I tried to say before."

"What do you mean," Artemis asked, "by something more? More like best-friends, or more like _more _more, like, I don't know I think you get it."

Wally chuckled, the first sign of true lightheartedness since he had entered the tub. "I mean _more _more like girlfriend more, maybe? Seeing you leave today, all I wanted to do was find you and make sure that you were alive. And then seeing you look so broken when we woke up, I just wanted to hug you and make sure that everything really was okay. You mean something to me Artemis."

Much to Wally's surprise, Artemis began to sniffle again.

"Oh, what did I do? I'm so sorry, Artemis, we can talk about this on a calmer day when everything is settled down I think Robin was actually looking for me so if you don't mind I'll just disappear and eat a lot of food and video games well not eat the games I think I'll play those and vanish from existence forever and then I-"

"Wally, stop rambling. I'm crying again because these, for the first time ever for me, I think, are happy tears. Good tears. I'm happy because you care and I care. We both care, and you better be listening because it's been a friggin' long day and I will not repeat myself about mushy-gushy feelings, got that?"

Wally nodded, a smile breaking out on his face.

"Let me see if I get this…you care about me like I care about you, I made you happy cry, and you're tired? Yep, this day just got a lot better."

Artemis smiled at Wally.

"Yea, I guess it did. I still can't shake the feeling that I should feel terrible about today though. I mean everything really was my fault and I deserve long crying hours for doing all of-"

Wally reached over and lightly grabbed Artemis' chin, pulling her head up to look him directly in his eyes.

"No one will blame you for what happened today. Now can you please, pretty like yourself please, stop sulking so we can bask in the glory that is us not being butt-headed and admitting our feelings?"

When all he received in return was a weak smile, he pulled himself over on the bench until he was right next to Artemis. He hooked one arm around her, pulling her body close to his.

"We like each other and we know this now. This is a happy moment Artemis. Please be happy beautiful."

The use of her old nickname seemed to have the desired effect on her in this new context, because Artemis let out a sigh of what sounded like a mix of defeat and pleasure, and snuggled into his side.

After a few moments of calm, Artemis raised her head again. Looking up at Wally, she asked, "So, KF, are you planning on asking me out to a movie or something now, or will I have to do all of the work in this relationship?"

True to his ginger locks, Wally blushed a bright red, and stuttered quietly over what was an attempt at a response.

"Um…a relationship? You…you want one of those?"

"Yes, Wally, I think I would like one. You just told me the worst thing that like ever happened to you on your worst day ever was losing me, and then you made me cry. Plus you're the only one who came to check on me, the only person to see me cry in probably six or seven years, and you're quiet comfortable for snuggling. I think the next step would be something along the lines of a relationship."

Wally smiled down at her, happier than he had been since "waking up" earlier that day.

"Well then, Artemis Crock, Blondie, Beautiful, Oh Annoying One, would you like to go on a date with me sometime?"

He watched as she chuckled during the use of her nicknames and softened when he finally said the words he had been wanting to for ages out loud.

"Wally, Baywatch, Bane of my Existence, Kid Annoying, Pervinator, yes, I would love to go on a date with you sometime, on one condition."

Wally froze, hoping that the condition wouldn't be some ridiculous task that would prevent a date that she secretly didn't want. Whatever his doubts were, he nodded his head for her to continue.

"I'll only go on a date with you if you kiss me right now, for being so damn endearing."

Wally's face lit up.

"That, gorgeous, is something that I can do."

And with that he brought his mouth down to hers, capturing her lips in a searing kiss of pent-up emotions, excitement over their new relationship, and the general longing that had resulted from thinking that she had been dead for the entire day.

Artemis sighed into Wally's mouth. This kissing Wally business was definitely something that she would enjoy getting used to. He threaded his fingers into her hair, pulling her hair-tie out of her flowing locks in the process. Artemis curved her body into Wally's and moved her mouth from his to follow his jaw line to his neck. Just as she reached her destination, Wally let out a loud chuckle.

"Ugh, had to ruin the moment, did ya Baywatch?"

"No, no it's not you. I was just thinking, we're like some chemical experiment."

Artemis made a face at her newly required boyfriend.

"Or, that's really romantic…"

"No, like chemical experiments can use catalysts to make them speed up and react. We're like that. This terrible day was our catalyst."

Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Just shut up and kiss me, idiot."

Wally smiled.

"Yes ma'am, I think I will."


End file.
